Ted Williams Award

The Ted Williams Award, which is sponsored by Total Sports, is presented annually to the most productive hitter in each league. The award is named after Ted Williams, who hit .406 in 1941, the last player to bat .400 in a season.

The players are scored using a formula that includes on-base and slugging percentage devised by Total Baseball's John Thorn and Pete Palmer. They originally created this statistic in The Hidden Game of Baseball, which was published in 1984. They "adjusted" production by normalizing it to the league average and also compensating for the home park factor.

The value is then further normalized so that the league average is .250. With .250 being the league norm, a player who posts adjusted production of .300 is 20 percent (50 points) better than the average player offensively. Above-average players will post numbers in the .250-.500 range with good hitters above .300. Only the very best hitters will climb above .400.

Note: In 2002 the award was not issued. No official statement was made regarding its future, but with the passing of Ted Williams, the bankruptcy of Total Baseball, and the renaming of the All-Star Most Valuable Player Award to the Ted Williams Award — it appears as if the Ted Williams Award has ended.